Continuous conveyer-reactor chamber



June 17, 1952 R. w. HELWIG CONTINUOUS CONVEYER-REACTOR CHAMBER 2 SHEET S SHEET l Fild June 27. 1949 INVENTOR. RALPH HELWIG z. ATTORNEY 7F: EH 1411p N J M R a June 17, 1952 w HELWK; 2,600,871

CONTINUOUS CONVEYER-REACTOR' CHAMBER,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed June 27, 1949 JNVENTOR. R LPf-l W- HEL I A TORNEY Patented June 17, 1952 uN1:1?121-1 )i:- PATENT oonrmvoosgeg iggs-nmoron Rafp'li' Heltvim. Verona, Pa assigns: to Gulf: Research8t-Development-Compute,Pittsburgh;.7 Pat azcorporation otDelaware Applicatiiinnlimefi 'l, 1949, SerialNo. 101,593

KrClaims; (Cl. 23*285) This invention relates to-amimprovedi. appara" tus for carrying': out chemical-reactions wherein:

a fluid and a"pa11ticu1ate" soliditreatingi material are continuously Brought? into intimate contact" in a generally helicoidall zoneeoi contactito effect a chemical reaction; The invention: dealsparv ticularly' with an improvement in the apparatus which: is mounted: for. rotations.about.- itslongi--- tudinal axis; and which: isxinterior ly provided. with a he1icoid,-. the-..-peripheny: of which iS-"CODP' tiguous; or attached to. the inner wall. surfaces:

of the vessel, the wholerotatingg asl-av unitzand without relative movementsbetween the shell- 01 vesseland the helicoids, Meansare providedfor introducing' v astreamot fiuid atoneend at the cylindrical vessel andfon remQ-vingit f-mmthe other end of the vessel the-disposition of the fluid. inlet andoutlet, respectively, depend ing upon whether it isidesiredto pass the fluid through the vessel in adirection-rconcurrent with or countercurrent 1 to .theodii'ection. of transport of the particulate treating agent?th'rou'g lithe vessel; Means areal'sorprovid'ed for introducing a solid particulate treatihgilag'ent into one" end? of the vessel and for removing, itfrom the pposite' end of the vessel. Theinletan'd outlet" for the particulate treating: agent are: disposed" at such ends of the vessel with? respect: to" the.

helicoid' and" the dir'ect'ioxr of" rotation oftlie' vessel, 1; e:, clockwise or." counterclockwise; that? upon rotation of the vessel and"tlie'helic'oitiv the whorls of the helicoid will"? have an apparent direction of movement away from' the outlet means andtoward the inletmeans; Thepar-- ticulate treating; agent is thenim'ovediby the'i.ro= tating vessel through" the vessel in" a: vdfrectiori opposite to: the apparent direction? of'fmoveme'nt' of the helicoi'di Forexamplr lira horizontally 2? disposed vesselthavlngaiitstprincipar axi'sa nor-mal toz. the li'ne of vision of arr observer, if the hell cold is in: the-form of wright-hand screw: and appears: to rotate clockwise: when viewed:- from thesend-'atZthei-right'or!thetobserverpthe:whorls:-

of theahelicoid nearest: the observer: v'vill appearto travel:fromthe lett tbathe right'of thaobserver; Irv-such case; the inlet" for; treating agent is dis-- posed atlthetrightJend or: thev'vessel and he'licolma. and thei-outletaisdisposedaat the left; Under the: same: eonditions' o'fobservation} if the hellcoi'd i'srm the: for m of? a1: ri'ght-hand screw and: appears: to rotate countere1ockwise;. then the: in-- leti would be disposedf. at: the left end and: the.

iioutlet at: the right; because the whorls of the helicoid i then appear to ixn'ovettromi rightto left. Under: the -same conditionsioriobservation;. ifthe' helicoi'd the:form of a leftahand screw "and appears to" rotate clockwise; thei whorls of the ii-helleo'id l nearest? the: observes appeartos move" from right to' left; and the inletis disposed at? the left end and-the outlet iat the right. Again under the: same conditions: of observationztif the helicoid is w the -form of alft-hand screw" and appears to rotate-- counterclockwise them the" whorls: appear to: moves from: lei-tite right and' the i'nlet disposed at the: rightt end and the:v outlet afithelefta As further: disclosed in saidil prior application,

shaft co'axially disposed within"thelrotatmgives sel By: means ofi suchi-aa;coresmaximum unirormitt or: contactbetween the: fluid and particulate treating agent can be secured. Thesize or the core' relative: t'o': the'ksi'ze of the ves'sel m'ay bevariedi over awide -rangaoand: in "genera-1: it

' core havinga across is: desirableto; employ to: per centofa'the sectional areaof 'f m cross-sectional area-.01 the? vessell. of v loadihg io'f partlculatetreatingi agent 111 the vessel;- which: is notmallv'shgli'tly in excess: of SU per- 'cent of the reevo1i1m t tne vessel; may be increased hyrestrieting tlie tltiw o'f partieula'te treatise, agent -from the-discharge: end of: vessel by means of an adjiist'alile orifice; sueh as iahvalve orithe likez Foraficomplete-deseription thei -constructionandoper'ation-Iofapparatuso tli type desorihed reference is made tb theprior application re ferred :to hereinaliove;

the o eration of the"ihveritlbn in accord ance with the prior application}? the part-iculat'e" treating mat'eriab falls byi'gravitv' iiit'o" the space within the vessel between the inlet end and the first whorl of the helicoidi' Sincetheappareht" The degree".

direction of motion ofthe helicoid is toward the inlet end, this results in a piling up of the particulate material in the said space until sufficient has accumulated to pass over the axis of the helicoid or the core, if a core is provided, and thence into the space between the first and second whorls, and this action continues until, ultimately, particulate material has traveled through the complete path defined by the helicoid and leaves the apparatus by the outlet opening at the opposite end of the reaction vessel. The rate at which solid particulate treating material passes through the vessel normally varies over a wide range, depending on the loading, the pitch of the helicoid, the. speed of rotation and other factors described in the prior application. I

In normal operation, an unrestricted supply of solid particulate treating agent is provided at the inlet end, and the outlet rate at the opposite end ofthe vessel is maintained at the desired value, as by a valve mechanism or the like. Since-for reasons of practical construction, the inlet opening for particulate treating material is appreciably smaller than the diameter of the vessel itself, the rate of feeding of the solid material tends to be restricted by the solids already,

in the vessel. This restricted action results from the fa'ctthat the solids can only move away from sarily roll back upon themselves and partly block the inlet opening, thus reducing its capacity to feed more solids to the vessel. Under, many conditions of operation, this blocking, action may be great enough to restrict the average capacity of the inlet port to a value lower than the desired throughput of the case. The inlet port, rather than the outlet port, or the valve associated with the latter, then restricts the particulate solids capacity of the. apparatus, and as, a result the loading drops down from the desired high value to one which may approach 50 per cent. Such a situation will obviously often be undesirable.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a means by whichthe rate of admission of solid treating material to apparatus of this type. is rendered substantially independent of the limiting factor discussed in the preceding paragraph.

Another. object of the invention is to provide a treatment apparatus of this general character in which the admission of solid treating materials. will be expedited, but without the necessity of enlarging the size of the inlet port.

A further object of the invention is to modify the design of chemical treatment apparatus to accomplish the above ends, with a minimum of mechanical modification and alteration, and without unduly increasing the size, complexity or cost of such equipment.

The above and other objects, and the manner in which they are accomplished, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed specification of certain preferred embodiments of the invention, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof and in which drawings:

Fig. 1 is aside elevation, with'parts broken away and partly in section, of a preferred embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view, with parts omitted for clarity and parts broken away, of a second embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevational view, partly in section, of another modification;

Fig. 5 is a side view thereof, and

Fig. 6 is a plan View of the same modification.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, there is illustrated a treatment apparatus of the kind described in detail in the copending application referred to above, adapted to eifect contact between fluids and finely divided or granular solid catalyst or other solid particulate treating agent or material with continuous fiow of the fiuid and particulate treating material. As shown in the drawings, the apparatus comprises a vessel or shell ID of generally cylindrical configuration, disposed with its principal axis in a horizontal plane and having end closure members II and 12. .The vessel It is, in the instance shown, interiorly provided with a coaxially disposed core [3, which may be either hollow or solid, and which extends throughout the major portion of the length of the vessel Ill. The

core I3 is mounted upon extensions or shaft members I4 and. Ila which are suitably supported in bearings 15 and 15a located in bearing housings I6 and [6a, respectively. In the annular space between the core [3 and the casing H3 there is mounted on the core a helicoid ll, the periphery of which is contiguous to and integrally attached to the interior wall surfaces of the vessel Ill. The vessel I0, core [3, shaft members l4 and Ma, and helicoid ll rotate as a unit.

The vessel or shell [0 is located within a stationary outer casing l8 of cylindrical configuration. As disclosed in the prior copending application hereinabove identified, in many cases it is desirable or advantageous to provide for passing a fluid heat-controlling medium such as Water, oil, air, steam or the like into or through the space between the rotating vessel It] and the stationary outer casing 18, whereby the temperature within the vessel I0 may be regulated. The purpose may be either to supply or remove heat. The outer casing I8 is provided at one end with a closure member l9 to which is integrally attached a conduit 20 adapted to serve as a means for feeding particulate treating agent into the interior of the inner shell or vessel 10. A conduit 2|, terminating in the conduit 20, is provided for the removal (or introduction, as the case may be) of fluids, such as vaporized or gaseous hydrocarbons, for example. The bearing housing [6 at this end of the apparatus may, as shown, be integrally connected to the conduit 20.

At the opposite end of the apparatus, the outer casing 18 is provided with a flange 25 which is secured by bolts or other suitable fastening devices 26 to an end or closure member 21, to which is attached a conduit 28 terminating coaxially with the vessel I0 in or near the plane of the end member l2 and providing an outlet port for treating agent from the vessel Ill. The hearing housing 16a supporting the shaft member Ma at this end of the apparatus is conveniently integrally attached to the conduit 28, and the latter is also provided with an intercommunicating conduit 29 serving to introduce fluid into the interior of the rotating vessel ID (or, as the case may be, to remove such fluid from the vessel l 0).

The conduit 28 is also provided with a valve 30 accepts for regulating theflow. of: treating. agent; The right-hand end of helicoid IT, as seen in Fig. 1 ofthe drawings, isspaced a short. distance from the conduit 28 in order to prevent itfrom interfering with the movement of the particulate treating agent out of the interior of the vessel 10. The left-hand end of helicoid [1, however, terminates a sufficient distance inside of the end plate II to accommodate theimprovement of the present invention, which in the present case is a shield. comprising. a set. of. four broad-bladed propeller-type fins 32 secured to shaft [4, successive blades being spaced at substantially 90 degree angles to one another. The projected width of these blades or fins, as shown in Fig. 2 ofthedrawings, is preferablyonly slightly greater than the diameter of the inlet port from conduit 20, and the pitch of the blades is made relatively small so that they do not occupy too large a portion of the vessel. As shown in Fig. 1, the slope of the fins or blades is in the same direction as that of the helicoid l1.

In operation, rotation of shaft M, Ma rotates the helicoid IT in the direction of the arrows in Fig. 1, and the blades or fins 32 rotate in the same sense therewith. Solids entering via conduit 20 build up in vessel H3 about the blades 32 to a depth sufficient to permit them to roll over the shaft carrying the fins 32, which then deflect such solids away from the inlet opening, permitting more solids to enter by gravity. In other words, the blades 32 deflect the solids continuously away from the inlet port as they roll over the shaft so that the amount of solids allowed to enter is not restricted by the solids already in the vessel. While the device just described is provided with four blades, it is apparent that the same result can be achieved with more or fewer blades arranged in various ways, so long as the assembly operates to direct incoming solids away from the inlet port.

Fig. 3 of the drawings illustrates diagrammatically a second form of the invention, comprising a stationary shield 3 fixedly secured about the periphery of the inlet port of the solids conduit 20. The lower forward edge of shield 34 is inclined as at 36 in the same direction as the pitch of the helicoid with which it is used, and while this form of the invention does not impart any forward motion to particles entering through the port, it does prevent such particles from rolling directly across the inlet opening and blocking the passage of more material into the vessel.

In Figs. 4 to 6 of the drawing there are shown three views of another stationary type of shield similar in application and position to the one shown in Fig. 3. In this instance, however, the shield 38, which is fixedly secured about the periphery of the inlet port, is inclined to the direction of the axis of the helicoid, and this sloping surface imparts some forward motion to the solid particles as they roll down across it.

As in the above-identified copending application, the apparatus of this invention is useful for a wide variety of chemical reactions wherein a fluid is contacted with a solid particulate treating agent. These include various hydrocarbon treatments, such as cracking, coking, desulfurization, hydrogenation, dehydrogenation, polymerization, isomerization, etc. of hydrocarbons, as well as chemical syntheses. The apparatus of the invention achieves uniform, intimate and efficient contact between the solid treating agent and the fluid to be treated, and at the same time minimizes grinding and pulverizing of the solid treat- 6 ing agent and weanand abrasion of the apparatus.

While there havebeen-disclosed herein certain exemplary embodiments-of the invention which have been found satisfactory solving the problem',.it is apparentthatmany other arrangements may be devised to provide for increasing the degree of loading of the vessel [0; in the presence of an inlet port of smaller diameter than that of the vessel itself, by reducing the tendency of thesolids already the vessel to block the ingress of additi'onal'solid'sdueto their rolling in front of saidinlet port, and all such arrangements as-falllwithinthe scope of the appended claims are considered a part of this invention.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for effectinga-chemical' reaction wherein a fluid is treated with a solid particulate treating agent, comprising: a closed cylindrical shell; 2:. helicoid coaxially disposed within said shell and attached at its periphery to the inner wall of said shell; means for rotating said shell and helicoid as a unit about their common principal axes; inlet means for introducing said treating agent at one end of said shell, said inlet means being so positioned with respect to the helicoid that upon rotation of said shell and helicoid, the helicoid will have an apparent longitudinal movement along its principal axis toward said inlet means; outlet means for withdrawing treating agent disposed at the opposite end of said shell from said inlet means; means for introducing fluid at one end of said shell and for withdrawing treated fluid at the other end; and a shield member mounted within said shell between said inlet means and said helicoid, with at least a portion of said shield member lying above the axis of rotation of said helicoid and having a width substantially coextensive with the diameter of said inlet means, said shield member preventing the particulate treating agent lying within said shell from rolling across the inlet means and blocking the passage of more particulate treating agent into said shell.

2. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which said shield member comprises a shield element fixedly secured about said inlet means.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which said shield member comprises a set of propeller-type fins arranged for rotation with said shell and said helicoid as a unit.

4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which the shield member is provided with at least one surface inclined to the direction of the axis of rotation of said helicoid.

5. Apparatus for effecting chemical reactions wherein a fluid is treated with a solid particulate treating agent, comprising: a closed cylindrical shell; a core member coaxially disposed within said shell; a helicoid coaxially disposed within said shell, attached at its periphery to the inner wall of said shell and mounted on said core member; means for rotating said shell, core member and helicoid as a unit about their common axes; means defining an inlet port for introducing said treat ng agent at one end of said shell, said port defining means being so disposed with reference to the helicoid that upon rotation of the latter, the helicoid will have an apparent longitudinal movement along its principal axis toward said inlet port; a solid particulate material directing element positioned adjacent said inlet port and within said shell, with at least a portion of said solid particulate material directing element lying above the axis of rotation of said helicoid and having a width substantially coextensive with the diameter of said inlet port, said solid particulate material directing element preventing the particulate treating agent lying within said shell from rolling across the inlet port and blocking the passage of more particulate treating agent into said shell; and means for withdrawing treating agent from that end of said shell opposite to said directing element.

' 8. Apparatus in accordance with claim 5 in which said directing element is provided with at least one surface inclined to the direction of the axis of rotation of said helicoid.

RALPH W. HELWIG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 6. Apparatus in accordance with claim 5 in 10 fil of this patent;

which said directing element comprises a shield element fixedly secured about said inlet port.

7. Apparatus in accordance with claim 5 in which said directing element comprises bladed propeller-type fins fixedly secured for rotation with said shell and said helicoid and arranged to sweep across said port.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 891,468 Dougan June 23, 1908 15 2,264,390 Levine et a1. Dec. 2, 1941 2,337,137 Thompson et al. Dec. 21, 1943 

